Editorial: A new reason for cynicism with government

The 64-count criminal indictment handed down Friday against Secretary of State Dianna Duran will only serve to increase the cynicism and distrust New Mexicans already have in their state government.

And with good reason. The charges filed Friday include embezzlement, fraud, money laundering and campaign finance violations. They allege that the secretary of state — the top officer in the state with regard to the investigation and enforcement of campaign finance laws — improperly used her own campaign donations to finance gambling sprees at casinos throughout the state.

They are stunning charges against a person who had spent 26 years as a public official, starting in 1989 with the Otero County Clerk's Office, then as a state senator from Tularosa from 1993 to 2010. Duran ran for secretary of state in 2010 in a campaign that highlighted scandals of past officer holders and promised a new era of integrity.

She defeated Mary Herrera, who was facing allegations from three former employees who claimed she improperly sought donations from state vendors and required staffers to work on her campaign while on the clock.

Before Herrera, Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron and three contract employees in her office were indicted on 49 counts of money laundering, fraud and kickbacks. Charges against her were eventually dropped in 2012 based on the length of time it took to get the case to trial.

Duran took advantage of those past scandals to not only defeat Herrera, but to win re-election last year.

"I've cleaned up that mess, restored trust, confidence, transparency and efficiency," she boasted in her Sun-News biographical form submitted prior to the 2014 election.

Now, the office has been tainted by scandal once again.

It has been noted that Attorney General Hector Balderas, who filed the indictment, and Duran have been at odds over a task force both headed to study the reporting and enforcement of campaign finance laws.

When she was elected in 2010, Duran became the first Republican to hold the office since Jesusita A. Perrault in 1929. And, her advocacy for issues like voter ID have angered Democrats in Santa Fe. But the allegations cited in Friday's indictment go far beyond politics. To that end, we think Balderas was wise to file the indictment without fanfare. There was no press conferences — not even an official statement beyond what is in the court filing.

We will let the court process play out before making any final judgments, but it is troubling to see this office tainted again by scandal. The secretary of state is supposed to be above politics — an impartial arbiter enforcing our election code down the middle, without regard to political party.

Too many of the recent office holders have fallen woefully short of that ideal and have instead seen the position of top election officer in the state as a merely a means for personal enrichment.